--- title: "Ardra Nakshatra: Lord Rahu, Deity, Padas" url: "https://abhisheksoni.in/learn/nakshatra/ardra" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-27" description: "Ardra spans 66°40'-80°00' of the zodiac, ruled by Rahu, presided by Rudra. Symbol: Teardrop / diamond. Gana manushya, yoni dog, nadi vata. Its four padas fall in Mithuna." --- # Ardra Nakshatra *Nakshatra* Ardra (आर्द्रा) is the 6th of the 27 nakshatras of Vedic astrology, spanning 66°40' - 80°00' of the zodiac in Mithuna. Its lord is Rahu and its deity Rudra. Symbol: Teardrop / diamond. It is of manushya gana, dog yoni and aadi nadi, and its lord's Vimshottari dasha lasts 18 years. ## What is Ardra nakshatra? Ardra is the 6th of the 27 nakshatras, spanning 66°40' to 80°00' of the zodiac, all in Mithuna. Its lord is Rahu, its deity Rudra, the storm form of Shiva, and its symbol is a teardrop. The name means 'moist' or 'wet', the damp after a storm. It is identified with Betelgeuse, the red shoulder star of Orion. The texts read Ardra as the storm that clears the air: destruction first, then rain and fresh growth. ## Which rashi is Ardra in, and who is its lord? Ardra lies wholly in Mithuna, Budha's sign, and its lord is Rahu, whose Vimshottari dasha lasts 18 years. Rahu also rules Swati and Shatabhisha, and all three sit in air signs (Mithuna, Tula and Kumbha), which is part of why the texts tie Rahu's nakshatras to restlessness and ideas. A Moon in Ardra at birth means life begins in Rahu's dasha. How much of the eighteen years is left depends on how far the Moon had travelled through Ardra, from almost all of it to a year or less. ## What are the four padas of Ardra? Each pada is 3°20'. The four padas fall in the navamsas of Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena. The navamsa (D9) is the chart in which each pada becomes a sign, read for marriage and for the deeper strength of a graha. Ardra does not cross a sign boundary: all four padas are in Mithuna. The navamsas run through the signs of Guru and Shani, which tradition reads as the storm being given discipline and meaning. Ardra is not a gandamool nakshatra. ## What does tradition say about people born in Ardra? The texts describe Ardra natives as intense, sharp-minded and questioning. Varahamihira's verse is blunt, calling them proud, crafty and hard to please, and later writers balance it with Rudra's other side: the healer who comes after the storm. Tradition holds that Ardra people learn through upheaval and often understand pain from the inside. Manushya gana is a practical, human temper. Rahu as lord is said to bring hunger for what is new or foreign and a talent for complex systems. ## Which careers are traditionally linked with Ardra? Tradition links Ardra with research and the sciences, technology, electronics and software, chemistry and pharmaceuticals, and with work that takes things apart to rebuild them, from demolition to crisis management. Rudra as healer adds medicine. These are associations, not a forecast. Work is read from the 10th house, its lord and the dasha running. ## What does Ardra mean for marriage and kundli matching? For Ashtakoota matching Ardra is manushya gana, dog yoni and Aadi nadi. Manushya agrees fully with manushya, is accepted with deva and scores lowest with rakshasa. Of the 36 points, nadi carries 8, gana 6 and yoni 4. Two Aadi nadi Moons is the classical concern, nadi dosha, and the texts give exceptions to it. The score compares two Moons only. I read the marriage from the 7th house, its lord, Shukra and the dashas of both people. ## Which syllables belong to Ardra? The traditional syllables for the four padas are Ku, Gha, Nga and Chha, in order. Families take the syllable of the Moon's pada as the first sound of a name. ## What does Ardra not tell you? Ardra's storm imagery makes people expect a hard life. The nakshatra does not decide that. It does not tell you where Rahu sits, whether Budha, the sign lord, is strong, or which house Mithuna occupies, and those carry far more weight. The eighteen-year Rahu dasha it starts may be mostly spent in childhood or still running at twenty, depending on the Moon's degree. Two Ardra Moons born a few hours apart can belong to very different charts. ## Classical facts - **Number:** 6 - **Sanskrit name:** Ardra - **Hindi name:** आर्द्रा - **Lord:** Rahu - **Deity:** Rudra - **Symbol:** Teardrop / diamond - **Gana:** Manushya - **Yoni:** Dog, male - **Nadi:** Aadi - **Degree range:** 66°40' - 80°00' - **Rashi:** Mithuna - **Vimshottari dasha of its lord:** 18 years - **Reference:** [Ardra (nakshatra) (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardra_%28nakshatra%29) ## The four padas - 1, 66°40' - 70°00', Mithuna, Dhanu - 2, 70°00' - 73°20', Mithuna, Makara - 3, 73°20' - 76°40', Mithuna, Kumbha - 4, 76°40' - 80°00', Mithuna, Meena ## Articles about Ardra Nakshatra - [Famous people and their nakshatra, checked against the actual birth dates](/learn/famous-people-nakshatra): Most celebrity nakshatra lists are guesses, because the Moon changes nakshatra mid-day and few birth times are public. Here is what can honestly be said.